Standard cable processing machines, hereinafter also referred to as ‘machines’, perform processing steps in the context of cable production. Multiple machines may be clustered in a machine center where multiple cable processing steps may be consecutively executed in an automated sequence. A machine center may also be considered to be a machine in the sense of the terminology and description within the present application. Examples for cable processing steps are: cutting cables at a desired length, removal of insulation at the cable ends (cable stripping), crimping of cable ends, etc. A machine may be equipped with one or more production tools to perform such a production step. For example, cable strippers may be used for removing insulation material from single wires, multi-conductor cables, or coax and optical fiber cables. An example of a cable stripper with rotative blades is disclosed in the published PCT patent application WO 2008/152551A1. It is also possible to cluster multiple tools in a machine center (e.g., a crimp center) where multiple production steps may be performed in an automated manner. For example, such an automatic machine or machine center may include respective production tools that are configured for cutting, stripping, crimping, sealing, twisting and tinning of cables. Standard cable processing machines and machine centers with the above described functions are commercially available from Schleuniger Group in Thun, Switzerland. Specific machines are disclosed at Schleuniger's homepage at www.schleuniger.ch.
High precision of each production tool is required to ensure cable processing with correct length and correct insulation and robustness, etc. The precision of a cable processing machine is typically monitored through physical parameters that indicate the capability of the cable processing machine for cable processing steps. For example, the blades or knives of a stripping tool used for removing insulation material from the cable ends may no longer be sharp enough to guarantee appropriate removal of the insulation (stripping). In such case the contact pressure between the blades or knives and the cable insulation (measurable through appropriate sensors) may not be in a predefined range of tolerances which, however, is necessary to achieve the required precision. In this case, an operator is needed to resolve the issue and restore the machine's stripping capability for regaining the required precision. The term “operator” as used hereinafter refers to a resource for operating the cable processing machine. Operating in this sense includes but is not limited to providing maintenance activities and performing production support activities. An “operator” in the sense of this disclosure may be a living creature, such as a human operator, or a robot that may be voice controlled. However, operators may not be available in the vicinity of the cable processing machine and they may make errors once attending the machine if they are not fully aware of what to do. This may result in a situation where the machine no longer has capability to produce high precision cables, until such capability is restored by an operator. Existing cable processing machines provide instructions to operators via a display of the machine. However, this requires the operator to be in the immediate vicinity of the machine for being notified and for executing the corresponding actions. There could be a negative impact on the quality of the performed actions because the operator may not be able to simultaneously use eyes and hands for the parametrization of the machine which finally determines the precision of the cable processing steps.